Texas Rangers Broadcasters

Dave Raymond

Television Play-by-play

Dave Raymond, who joined the Rangers' announcing group in 2016, begins his first year as the primary play-by-play announcer for the club's broadcasts on FOX Sports Southwest. Raymond worked approximately 45 TV games and also filled in on radio broadcasts last season.

A 22-year broadcasting veteran, called radio and television games for the Houston Astros from 2006-2012. Raymond also has major league experience on the radio side with the San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles and has been a minor league broadcaster for the Brockton Rox, Sonoma County Crushers, Charleston River Dogs, and Iowa Cubs. . From 2013-15, he has served as a play-by-play and studio host for Major League Baseball Advanced Media.

His other broadcasting credits include college football, basketball, baseball, and softball for ESPN, Comcast, Root Sports, and the CBS Sports Network. Raymond was the pre and postgame studio host for Houston Texans shows on FSSW in 2013 and 2014.

Raymond was also a business reporter for Forbes and Forbes ASAP from 1997-2002. He is a 1994 graduate of Stanford University, where he was Senior Class President and a member of the track and field team. Dave resides in The Woodlands, TX with his wife Tish and sons Donnie (14), Tommy (12), and Mike (9).

Tom Grieve

Television Color Analyst

Tom Grieve is in his 23rd season as an analyst in the Rangers' television booth after debuting on Prime Sports broadcasts in 1995, the longest tenure of any TV broadcaster in club history. Elected to the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2010, he has been with the Washington/Texas franchise for nearly 49 of his 50 years in professional baseball. Grieve joined longtime Rangers' coach and minor league manager in throwing out the ceremonial first pitches on opening day in 2016 in recognition of their 50th pro seasons.

In 2017, Grieve will serve as the in-game analyst for approximately 65 games and will also be involved in the Rangers pre- and postgame coverage.

Named the Rangers' Vice President and General Manager September 1984, Grieve became the youngest General Manager in baseball at the time and remained in the position until September 1994. He was the Senators' first round pick in the October, 1966 June free agent draft after an outstanding high school career in his hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Grieve was elected to the Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.

He played in the majors with the Senators, Rangers, Mets and Cardinals from 1970-79. He was the Rangers' Player of the Year in 1976 with career bests of 20 homers and 81 RBI.

Grieve joined the Rangers' front office as director of group sales in 1980, became assistant director of player development in 1981, and was promoted to director of player development after the 1982 season.

Tom and his wife, Kathy, have three children, all accomplished athletes. His oldest son Tim, a 1994 graduate of Texas Christian University, pitched in the Kansas City and Arizona organizations and is now a Texas scout for the Detroit Tigers. His son Ben was the 2nd pick in the nation in the 1994 June draft and played nine major league seasons with the A's, Devil Rays, Brewers, and Cubs, earning 1998 American League Rookie of the Year honors with Oakland. Daughter Katie was an all-state volleyball player at Arlington Martin HS and went on to play at Auburn University. She graduated from the University of Texas in 2000. Tom and Kathy have eight grandchildren.

C.J. Nitkowski

Television Color Analyst

Former major league pitcher C.J. Nitkowski joins the Rangers as a television analyst and is expected to work about 100 regular season games in 2017. He will also do a select number of games as the play-by-play announcer.

Nitkowski has been with FOX since 2014, serving as an analyst on national broadcasts for FOX/FS1 as well as working in a studio role for MLB WhipAround and pre- and post-game programming on FOX MLB regular and postseason games. He is also an analyst and host for MLB Network Radio on Sirius/XM and is an analyst on the weekly Eye on Baseball program on CBS Sports Radio.

The lefthander pitched in 336 games for eight major league teams (Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, New York Mets, Texas, Atlanta, New York Yankees, Washington) from 1995-2005, including an 18-game stint with the Rangers in 2002 and 2003. He completed his playing career with two years each in Japan and Korea before beginning his broadcasting career.

Nitkowski also played Dutch Leonard in the movie 42 in 2013 and has had multiple cameos as well as serving as a script consultant for FOX TV's Pitch, which premiered in 2016.

A native of Suffern, New York, Nitkowski was selected by Cincinnati in the first round of the 1994 MLB 1st Year Player Draft out of St. John's (NY) University. He lives in Alpharetta, GA with his wife Megan and three children, Matthew (17), Brooke (15), and Luke (9).

Emily Jones

Field Reporter and Rangers Insider Host

A familiar face in Texas Rangers telecasts, Emily Jones returns in 2017 as the field reporter for the majority of the FOX Sports Southwest's home telecasts and a select number of road broadcasts. In addition, she serves as host of the weekly Rangers Insider show and all other in-season and off-season Rangers programming on FOX Sports Southwest as well as make appearances on behalf of the club. She also undertakes assignments for MLB Network and mlb.com. Jones has been a part of the Rangers' television broadcasts since 2007.

Jones worked full-time for FOX Sports Southwest on a variety of the network's programming from 2004 through October 2013. She previously was a news reporter and sports director at KCBD-TV in Lubbock. Emily and her husband Mike have two children, Henry and Hattie, and reside in Fort Worth.

Eric Nadel

Radio Play-by-play/Color

The 2014 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, Eric Nadel is in his 23rd year as the lead voice on the Texas Rangers radio broadcasts. It marks his 39th year broadcasting Rangers baseball, the longest tenure of any announcer in the history of the franchise and the second longest continuous current stint with one team in the American League to Kansas City's Denny Matthews (49th year in 2017).

The Ford C. Frick Award is presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Nadel was the first primary voice of the Texas Rangers to be honored with the Frick Award, which was first presented in 1978. He was a finalist for the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Frick Awards.

Nadel is an eight-time selection of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Texas Sportscaster of the Year Award (1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015) and was twice honored by the Associated Press for best play-by-play in Texas. He was inducted as the 15th member of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame on August 11, 2012.

Nadel joined the Rangers in 1979 and called games on television and radio in his first three seasons. Beginning in 1982, he began a 13-year run with Mark Holtz as the radio team on WBAP while returning to the television booth for one year in 1984. Nadel became the team's lead radio voice on KRLD Radio when Holtz moved to television in 1995.

Nadel is a graduate of Brown University, where he called football and hockey on the college radio station. He had minor league hockey play-by-play stints in Muskegon, MI, Oklahoma City, Dallas and Fort Worth, and was also the radio voice of the Dallas Diamonds of the Women's Professional Basketball League.

Nadel has spent several offseasons learning Spanish and has taken part in Spanish game broadcasts in numerous Latin American countries. He is also the author of three books, including Texas Rangers: The Authorized History, published in 1997.

Eric is very active in the local music scene, annually presenting a Birthday Benefit Concert for Focus on Teens, for which he is a member of the Board of Directors, at Dallas' Kessler Theater. This year's concert on May 18 stars Marc Broussard. He is also very involved in numerous mental health causes, serving as a spokesman for the national Campaign to Change Direction and for Texas State of Mind. Nadel is the 2017 chairman of the Nami Walk on May 13. He is a long-time animal activist and raised the funds for the construction of the first leash-free dog park in North Texas at Mockingbird Point in Dallas."

A 1991 inductee in the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame, Nadel and his wife, Jeannie, reside in Dallas and Durango, CO with their dog, Kirby, a terrier mix.

Matt Hicks

Radio Play-by-play/Color

Matt Hicks is in his fifth full season in the Texas Rangers radio booth after joining the broadcasts in June 2012.

Hicks came to the Rangers from the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Houston Astros Texas League affiliate, where he had served as Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations since 2005. In that role, he was the primary play-by-play voice on all radio broadcasts and called Hooks television games on Fox Sports Southwest's Astros Minor League Game of the Week from 2007-09.

Hicks has 28 years of professional baseball play-by-play experience, making stops with Frederick of the Carolina League from 1989-94 and El Paso of the Texas League from 1995-2004 before becoming an inaugural employee at Corpus Christi. He is a former winner of the Radio Broadcaster of the Year Award in El Paso.

In addition, Hicks has extensive experience broadcasting college basketball with Mount St. Mary's College (Emmitsburg, MD), James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA), the University of Texas-El Paso, New Mexico State University, and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He was also the first play-by-play voice of the El Paso Buzzards of the Western Professional Hockey League. During his time in Corpus Christi, Hicks also broadcast high school football on the Texas Sports Radio Network's CCISD Game of the Week.

Hicks is a graduate of the University of Maryland in College Park, where he called baseball, football, basketball, and lacrosse on WMUC Radio. The native of Washington, D.C. also was an extra in the movie Major League II, appearing in scenes featuring Bob Uecker, A.K.A. Harry Doyle.

Hicks and his wife, Estelle have a son Nathaniel and reside in Keller. Matt also has a daughter, Amy, who lives in Maryland.

Jared Sandler

Pre- and Post-Game Host

Jared Sandler is in his third season as the full-time pre and postgame host for the Texas Rangers Radio Network. He also fills in on radio play-by-play for selected Rangers' games.

In addition to his duties with the Rangers, Jared also fulfills various on-air responsibilities with the team's flagship, 105.3 The FAN, joining CBS Radio in March 2015. He is also the television voice of the Texas Legends of the NBA's D-League.

A native of Dallas, Sandler previously worked for 103.3 FM ESPN as an on-air host. Prior to his return to DFW, he spent two years with ESPN 100.9 FM/Great Lakes Loons (Midwest League), calling play-by-play for baseball, basketball, and football, as well as hosting the region's highest-rated afternoon drive sports talk show.

A graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) in 2011, Sandler earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in Entrepreneurial Studies. While at USC, in addition to directing the student-led sports radio station and working with ESPN 710 in Los Angeles, Jared also was a member of the school's baseball program, serving as a practice player and aiding in baseball operations. He resides in Dallas.

Eleno Ornelas

Spanish Radio Play-by-play

Eleno Ornelas is in his 18th season as a radio broadcaster for all Rangers Spanish, his 15th as the lead play-by-play announcer. In addition to his broadcast duties, Ornelas serves as the team's Spanish language interpreter and contributes to the Rangers Hispanic marketing and community initiatives in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on a year-round basis.

He was presented with the 2014 Golden Microphone Award from the National Association of Mexico Broadcasters, the organization's highest award.

Ornelas began his broadcasting career at KRVA Radio in Dallas in 1993 before moving KESS-AM as a full-time sports announcer in 1998. He joined the Rangers organization as a full-time employee in 2003. In addition to the Rangers, Ornelas has done radio play-by-play for the Dallas Mavericks and covered the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Burn during his tenure with KESS. He currently does Spanish radio broadcasts for Oklahoma City Thunder home games. Ornelas is a native of Juarez, Mexico and was a professional baseball announcer in that country before coming to Texas. He has an extensive background as an administrator in the Mexican amateur baseball leagues in North Texas, serving as President of the Dallas League from 1993-98.

Jose Guzman

Spanish Radio Color

Jose Guzman returns as the Spanish radio analyst for Rangers' home games in 2017. The former major league pitcher rejoined the broadcast team in 2015 after previously serving in that role on a fulltime basis from 2004-09.

Guzman also provided analysis on the Rangers Spanish home television broadcasts from 2010-13. He makes appearances in the community on behalf of the team. Guzman compiled an 80-74 record in 193 career appearances with the Rangers and Cubs from 1985-93. He won 11 or more games four times with Texas and was the team's Pitcher of the Year and A.L. Comeback Player of the Year in 1991. Shoulder injuries plagued him for much of his career, although he came out of retirement to pitch for the Independent Fort Worth Cats in 2001 and 2002.